James, Chapter 3 In the Making

James, chapter 3 took me longer than any so far. Not sure why, it really just makes a few points! ... Your tongue will MESS YOU UP! And wisdom can come from Heaven or Hell.

This was yesterday....I was kinda floundering with it ....

And this is now...

I am actually thinking of trying to sell a "James" booklet, kind of like an ezine, so I probably won't show all verses like I did last year....but you get the idea.

Lest you forget... this is what Chapter 3 looked like last year:

Can You Tell What Chapter?

Hint, I'm working on James again. My first plan was to just tweek last year's version...but, it seems I am not as happy with that version as I thought! It is all looking so different! Not only have I gotten a little better at drawing (with all the practice I've had) but I am "seeing"/reading things differently this time.

Here are a few changes... can you tell not only the chapter but the verses?

Anyway, I just wanted to show you that I'm not, not drawing, I am, just not showing what I'm doing as often :-)

I am still having MAJOR issues with Blogger letting me sign in!, if anyone has a clue I would love to get some answers.

I am posting this one using an app on my iPad...I can't do ANYTHING with my regular PC!
.

Chapter 2 last year:

The Book of James

You can probably tell by now that I REALLY want to do a journal... but I REALLY don't have anything to say!  I have tried my whole life to write in a diary/journal and get about a week into it and think "WHY?!"  Don't like that much "self focus"!!

I was thinking about all of the above last week and I was reminded "to seek ye first, the kingdom of God"... I don't do that very well either! Sure, I seek (some) but certainly not FIRST.  OUCH!  So, I decided then and there to make an art journal of books of the Bible.  I ordered new pads of paper to do it and they came in today... so, here is my first...James, Chapter 1.

I not really certain why I started with James...except it probably is one of my favorites.  It is the "meat" of how to live a life of righteousness...and I tend to camp there a lot.

I just started, one verse at a time and hoped I would have enough room to get through the chapter!  It was close...I may have done some things a little different with more room...but that's okay...I accomplished what I set out to accomplish....1 chapter, 1 page.  I wonder if anyone else can "read" it.  HA!  The good news is, I can... and it is forcing me to THINK about each verse.  MUCH needed discipline!

AND, I had FUN!

Added 7/20/2011

I finished all of James last night...

One thing I did that I would recommend if you want to try something like this...
I printed each chapter out and tape it to the back of the previous page so that I could take my pad and pencil with me everywhere and draw when I could.  I drew the horse and boat while sitting in my car waiting for a friend I was picking up at the airport.... no wasted time.

Lessons learned:

1. - Read the whole chapter first, not just one verse at a time.
2. - I used ZERO visual references, it was all from my head....soooooo, there are things that really aren't great representations of what they are.... Like chapter 3:4.... the thing in the water is SUPPOSE to be a rudder... a friend let me know quick, that is not what a rudder looks like...  oops... well, its a rudder to me...
3. - Every chapter was a little different... For chapter 3 I tried to incorporate the verse number into the drawing...so I can now look at it and know exactly what verse it represents...I like that...but I gave up on that by chapter 4... In chapter four there were main "word" ideas ... and by chapter 5 I was drawing stuff I never dreamed I could!  Hummmm....He does indeed "fill in the ability gap"!!!
4. - I now know why I started with James... first, James was a very visual writer!  Almost every verse could be drawn... second, I NEEDED to know what it said!
5. - I am AMAZED at how much I can remember of James now, and what I learned while meditating on it one verse at a time.  I came away saying...WOW!  I'm not "there" yet...gotta WATCH WHAT I SAY!!!
6. - The last couple of days I have been tempted to spend on things I don't need...but really want...and my little picture of the girl praying for $ with wrong motives, and the self-indulgent fat man pops in my brain... NOPE not gonna give way to temptation!

This was an amazing exercise!  I totally recommend that you give it a try.  No excuses!  I started saying "but I can't draw"...I really wish I could make you understand how much I don't believe I can draw....and so I don't.    Okay, I'm pretty good at Pictionary,but that's about it.  You may not have noticed, but by the last chapter, my drawing, and ideas got better... I never looked at anything for reference, I just sat on my sofa and drew ... THAT is a perfect example of God filling in the gaps ...where we are weak He takes over!